City and county taxpayers "are about to be asked to pick up
the tab" for up to $90M to help finance construction of a stadium
for the Bucs, according to Jeff Testerman of the ST. PETERSBURG
TIMES. A second request for funds, in the form of PSLs, is also
being asked of Bucs season ticket holders -- this one for
"upwards" of $40M. The Stadium Task Force also wants to raise
$5M through surcharges on Bucs' tickets. According to Task Force
Chair Chuck Davis, all of the figures are "still estimates," but
"the mystery should be over in a couple of weeks." On the PSLs,
Tampa Sports Authority Exec Dir Rick Nafe said that "they won't
cost as much as they did in Charlotte or St. Louis, or it will
fail" (Jeff Testerman, ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 7/26).
BUCS BENEFICIAL TO AREA? A task force plans to unveil a
report today that says the Buccaneers "are worth more than $80
million a year" to the region's economy. The report was
commissioned by a stadium task force of the Greater Tampa Chamber
of Commerce, and it is part of a campaign to build a new stadium
for the team (Ken Koehn, TAMPA TRIBUNE, 7/26).
